Kissinger: The Iran Nuclear Situation Will Come To A Head In The 'Very Foreseeable Future'

Henry Kissinger recently gave an ominous forecast on the future
of Iran's nuclear program: that it will be taken care of one way
or another very soon.

Speaking at the World Economic
Forum at a Swiss ski resort in Davos, Kissinger
said, "People who have advanced their view will have to come
to a determination about how to react or about the consequences
of non-reaction," he said.

"I believe this point will be reached within a very foreseeable
future."

Also at Davos, Agence France Presse
reports that President Shimon Peres
said, "There will be more attempts to try and
negotiate, but there will always be in the horizon a
military option, because if the Iranians think
it's only economic and political, they won't pay
attention."

Kissinger, Peres and Defense Minister Ehud Barak all seem to
think that the Iran nuclear situation will come to close in some
way in the next few months.

However, exactly how that will happen remains a subject of debate
— where some see military threat and possible strikes as
integral, , others report that sanctions have
crippled the country, opening up critical lanes for
upcoming nuclear talks with the U.N. Security Council.

One recent Haaratz report said that Iran's income from oil
had plummeted 50% in recent months, and the country has been
unable to find the space to store its excess oil. Iran's oil
represents 80 percent of its income, and the U.S. has almost
unilaterally banned the import of that oil. On the other side,
Iran's major importers are Asian countries (though China is
exempt, it still represents an ally) — countries likely to, and
more importantly,
able to, put pressure on the U.S. to drop sanctions.

While Iran may try to
delay and quibble over locations for the negotiation, it
looks like economic sanctions may well cause their hand to fold,
and soon.

Iran's leaders know the only route to ease the economic
pressures - and possibly undercut threats of military action on
its nuclear sites by Israel - is through potential deal-making
with the six world powers, which include the five permanent UN
Security Council members plus Germany.